SOUTHAMPTON, NY .- An exhibition of new paintings by artist Gordon Stevenson. Through selected fragments from the cartoons of our childhood, Stevenson engages both the child and adult in all of us. Playful and cerebral, moments frozen in time illuminate portrayals of love, from the nurturing to the romantic, as well as some of the tongue-in-cheek humor we may have missed earlier on. This exhibition marks the artist’s first solo show with Tripoli Gallery.

Under the alias Baron Von Fancy, Stevenson utilizes text in eye-catching hand-painted signs. Catch phrases like “This Ain’t My First Time At The Rodeo,” and “I’ll Have What She’s Having” oscillate from colloquial to profound. His selected texts, extracted from conversations, allow for the viewer to visualize the participants of the exchange, something that happens almost on a subconscious level.

Gordon Stevenson’s new body of work moves from words to images. Conjuring an artwork/viewer interaction similar to that achieved through his phrases, his vision takes the form of well-known cartoons, from Archie to Disney classics. “If you look at a cartoon as an adult rather than as a child you have a very different viewpoint on it. And these are my modern takes on the cartoons that were important to me as a child and moments that stand out in time in them,” says Stevenson. Coming full circle, Stevenson’s titles—from “Wine Me Dine Me Sixty-Nine Me” to “You Can’t Save a Damsel if She Loves her Distress”—further display the “adult content” aspect while adding a touch of love-sick Von Fancy-esque humor.

Gordon Stevenson was born in 1984 in New York, NY, and has been spending time in Southampton since his childhood. He received his BFA from Bard College and has been included in numerous exhibitions across the country and internationally. Stevenson’s work has been included in group shows at Tripoli Gallery since its inception in 2009: Of A Different Feather (2009), Flip Flops & Popsicles (2011), Footprints (2012), and a two-man show with Yung Jake Trading Faces (2010). Stevenson has gained notable press including features in The New York Times and Time Out New York. He currently works and lives in New York City.